The current selection of flexible mobility devices for adolescents and adults having limited mobility, vitality, balance issues, or neurological difficulties, is limited. An overwhelming number of Americans, over 54 million as of the last Census report, suffer from some form of limited mobility. There are over 15 million who, alone, use walking canes. These numbers are sure to escalate as a growing percentage of the population reaches retirement age. By 2030, approximately twenty percent of the entire population will be 65 years old or older. Additionally, nearly one in a dozen adolescents has some form of physical or mental disability that precludes easy, pain free ambulatory transportation. Thus, there is already a large need to have access to easily transportable devices for aid in mobility of every aspect of life. While the selection of strollers for babies and infants may be abundant, the market for adult strollers has yet to develop. Targeting individuals in the above market is critical to adequate health care, especially considering the target consumer is increasing in percentage population.
Individual consumers in the targeted adult stroller market might specifically include persons afflicted with restricted ambulatory movement and their corresponding caregivers. On a broader scale, corporations comprising the $1.1 trillion United States medical industry also fall into the targeted market. Hospitals, health care facilities, and nursing homes are all potential consumers as these institutions strive to provide maximum comfort and flexibility for patients of all ages and sizes. These institutions have an abundant access to wheel chairs and fully motorized scooters. But, wheel chairs and fully motorized scooters are often heavy, obstructive, and require special facilities and retrofitted vehicles to transport equipment. This adjustable adult mobility device is specially designed to eliminate the downfalls of these devices by being lightweight, versatile, and collapsible for easy storage and transportation. There is also a market for those adults that do have limited mobility and wish to have control over their daily lives without the need for additional help. Flexibility and versatility allows these passengers to go more places and thus have fuller life experiences while riding in comfort.
Ambulatory injuries impair mobility and hence preclude enjoyment of many of life's activities. Such injuries might include spinal cord damage, stroke, advanced osteoporosis, and hip or joint replacement. While individuals may not be fully dependent on a wheelchair, getting from one place to another can be time-consuming, difficult, and frustrating without the aid of a mobility device. This is often the case in instances where an individual is required to walk or stand in one place for an extended period of time. Limited movement not only frustrates the person with the disability, but can often instill frustration with companions, caregivers, or other individuals having an intimate relation with the disabled person. Other types of chronic illnesses such as heart conditions, cancer, and other degenerative diseases may also make physical transportation difficult. Balance and coordination issues are also brought on by such conditions as head trauma, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Meniere's disease, dementia, or even middle ear disturbances. Individuals afflicted with such ambulatory restrictions will find relief in an adult stroller in their everyday lives as a mobility aid.
Prior art is replete with examples of strollers which are used for children and in limited ways adults. In particular, there is prior art that has shown the use of shock absorbing technologies. Basically the current state of the art in absorbing or cushioning the shocks of the road are focused either on the drivetrain or wheel subsystems, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,031 issued to Hosaka on Jun. 6, 1984 or Published Application 2007/0114754 published May 24, 2007 by Santos etal, which focuses on the absorbing the bumps in the road through the wheels suspension system, or the seat itself, such as in Published Application 2006/0016648 to Lin published on Jan. 26, 2006. Problems are that shock absorbers mounted in the vertical plane are responsive to the shock and rely on the strength of the spring to support the weight of the occupant. A spring stiff enough to provide support to an adult is going to be so stiff as to transmit a significant amount of vibration directly to the spine or back of the user. It is an object of this invention to provide a shock absorbing system whereby the bumps and potholes of the road are not transmitted directly to the rider and especially to the riders back, regardless of the riders weight.
Another issue with the current state of the art is the absence of variable braking systems that incorporate a disc system of braking that provides instant selective braking rather than the pin and spoke arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,408 issued to Eagan on Dec. 6, 1994 and most current infant or baby strollers with a foot operated flip brake, which provides either a complete retardation of movement by locking the wheels or complete free-wheeling. It is an object of this invention to provide a braking system which is at a rest position engaged by friction between a disc brake rotor and a set of brake shoes at an infinitely number of locations about said rotor, and is capable of selective reduction of said friction by application of pressure.
Thus, there exists a significant need for an adult mobility device capable of transporting an adolescent or adult having limited mobility, balance issues, or neurological difficulties. Such an improved stroller should include a lightweight and/or foldable construction for easy movement, a means for protecting a passenger from the environment, capacity for transporting medical devices or other goods, and a mechanism to control the stroller when left unattended with a passenger inside. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.
It is the principle object of this invention to provide an adult mobility device which combines the comfort of a cushioned ride which is adaptable to the needs and requirements of the adult rider. Another object of this invention is to provide a mobility device that has a braking system that is controllable by the occupant or the caregiver. It is another object of this invention to allow the rider of this device to be able to self-propel themselves or be provided mobility by the caregiver.